|
Author
|
Topic: Pics from Napolean screening
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Akshay Nanjangud
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 637
From: Dallas, TX
Registered: Nov 2011
|
posted March 27, 2012 01:33 AM
Doug,
I have been thinking about the feature since yesterday. Some thoughts:
1. I loved the first and final acts. The first thirty-five minutes, with Napolean in school, were very good, then Napolean lost at sea is good, and the final Polyvision fifty minutes is brilliant.
2. The second and third acts were okay. While the second act was action packed (battles in the rain), the third is a sappy romance. Both acts didn't really involve me at the time of viewing.
3. The Polyvision was fantastic! Cliched observation but how can I convince everyone? Napolean's speech to a rapturous audience has to seen in Polyvision to be believed.
4. The music is hard for me to judge. To the credit of the orchestra, I can say that not once did I feel there was live orchestra. This is a huge compliment because the musicians didn't try to rise above the feature. The musical accompaniment was complimentary to the images and sounded like the music I have heard in other silent features.
5. The camera's fluidity felt much like a modern movie. For example, when Napolean rode a horse, the camera put me on a horse!
6. After all the recent special-effects features, it was refreshing to watch a feature completely on location or on real-looking sets. For example, in one rain drenched battle it felt like a real battlefield struck by real-rain.
7. The impact of color tinted film is unmatched. There is a sequence in the first act where Napolean is following the revolution from his window. A bloody, raging mob is on the streets. Great scene, right? Now, imagine this on film tinted red!
As I am writing this, I realize there is a lot to like about the feature. Yet as the feature finished and the applause started, I wasn't completely overwhelmed. Perhaps I expect a feature to have an involving narrative, more than what Napolean had to offer. So, my opinion is that while Abel Gance succeeded in his technical excursions, his story-telling (he is the credited writer too!) was not the best.
On a final note, I did enjoy the feature. My wife enjoyed it more than I did. If I could afford it, I'd probably go again next week. If it ever screens in future, I'd like to watch it. If one watches only one feature in a theater, it has to be this.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Claus Harding
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1149
From: Washington DC
Registered: Oct 2006
|
posted March 27, 2012 01:04 PM
Back from a long week-end in SF, tired but with amazing memories.
"Napoleon" in its longer version is just...better, with Carl Davis' score, to my ear, more emotional and less rigid than Carmine Coppola's.
I walked out of the theatre with the thought: "well, it couldn't really be any shorter, could it? What would you take out?"
The Paramount Theatre is overwhelming in its period design; simply the most astounding movie palace I have ever set foot in:
Here is but one detail from inside (my cellphone is old, so..):
Boston Light and Sound did an excellent job with the difficult projection task; when the Triptych was showing, they would discreetly do frame-height adjustments on the wing projectors to help the horizons in the images align as well as they could.
It tells you something about the power of the film that several folks came two nights in a row.... ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
At the end of the screening, I finally got to say hello to Professor Brownlow and he graciously autographed my commemorative booklet.
It put quite a pinch in my wallet, but I wouldn't have missed this week-end for anything.
Claus.
[ March 27, 2012, 04:23 PM: Message edited by: Claus Harding ]
--------------------
"Why are there shots of deserts in a scene that's supposed to take place in Belgium during the winter?" (Review of 'Battle of the Bulge'.)
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
